Love on the Line - Deeanne Gist [125]
“To send it to you and me, and then on to the next town where SWT&T has workers.” She could see the girl waffling. “I need you to take a message to the switchboard operator in Industry. Will you do it? You’ll get to dress like a boy.”
After a long pause, Bettina nodded. “Well, I reckon. If I get to wear my trousers.”
“That’s a girl. And you’ll need to hide your hair in a hat, as well.”
“All right. When ya want me ta leave?”
“Right now. While you get ready, I’ll wake up the livery and bring you a mount.”
“I don’t ride.”
“What?”
“I don’t ride. Don’t know how.”
Georgie blinked. She’d assumed Bettina walked everywhere because her father couldn’t afford to keep or even rent a horse. It never occurred to her the girl didn’t know how. “Oh, dear. That just won’t do. You can’t walk clear to Industry.”
“Shore I can. Me and Pa done it a million times. One o’ his favorite drinkin’ holes is there. The H.H. Boelsche Saloon.”
She straightened. “Why, that’s where the switchboard is.”
“I know.”
“It’ll take forever. By the time you get there and send word to Ranger headquarters, it’ll be too late for them to send out a company of men.”
“Maybe. But they might could get some on the 4:53. If’n they did that, then they’d catch the fellers red-handed.”
Biting her lip, she looked around. “It’s the middle of the night.”
“So?”
“So you can’t just walk to Industry in the middle of the night.”
“If I were a boy, would you feel the same way?”
She rubbed her forehead. Truth was, she’d have asked Fritz or one of the other boys in her Junior Audubon Society to go if she thought their parents would let them. But she knew they wouldn’t.
“Well? Would ya?” Bettina pressed.
“Probably not,” she admitted.
“What about the way yer always tellin’ me a gal can do anything a feller can?”
“This is different.”
“It ain’t. ’Sides, I’ve made up my mind. I’m goin’ whether ya say I can or not. Ain’t nothin’ you can do ta stop me.”
She’d seen that look in the girl’s eye on more than one occasion. With a sigh of resignation, she gave Bettina her blessing. “Just remember, you can’t tell anyone other than the Industry operator.”
Georgie didn’t bother returning to her vigil in the corner. Daybreak would be within another hour and the fledglings’ parents could take over the task. Falling onto her bed, she closed her eyes, second-guessing herself once again. If she’d had any idea Bettina would have to walk to Industry, she wouldn’t have involved her. And now it was too late. Bettina would have long since left. She prayed for the girl’s safety, but sleep overtook her before she ever made it to the amen.
Something was wrong. Georgie pushed herself up off the bed and glanced out the window. Dawn had just begun to lighten the sky.
Then she realized. It was quiet. Too quiet. Why weren’t the fledglings squalling? Cardinals were early risers.
Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, she rose and padded to the living room window. Even though dawn touched the horizon, it was still too dark to see anything through the glass. Without taking time to grab a blanket, she hurried to the back porch and tiptoed toward the ligustrum.
No sound. No movement.
She edged closer, then pulled back. The fledglings were gone. She looked left and right. No sign of them.
Her heart sped up. She knew good and well they hadn’t been taught to fly in the dead of night.
Hurrying off the porch and into the yard, she scanned the trees. And then she saw Prince Albert, his bright crimson coat a fine jewel against the green of the elm’s leaves. He hopped along its branch.
Chit chit chit. A short, sharp cry of distress. Victoria fluttered down, landing beside him, then repeated the staccato notes.
Georgie whirled back around, covering her mouth with both hands. No. No. Please, Lord.
But there was no question. Something had snatched up the babies during the night. She saw no sign of disturbance. The ligustrum had no broken branches. The nest wasn’t cockeyed. Everything looked perfect. Except the cradle was empty.
For the first time, she realized how bright and noticeable the